(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen)
 Curtain to fall for ADO Lakers; team withdraws
Nederlands
 THE HAGUE (Neth.) -
The curtain is about to fall for ADO Lakers.
While the final decision is not yet made officially, the outcome of a special meeting of club-members yesterday-evening (February 2) at the club's home site in The Hague is clear.
ADO Lakers will withdraw its team from the Dutch big league, while the club will be discontinued.
The reason for this decision is the current difficult financial situation of the club.
...Head Coach Eugene Henson talks with his...
...pitcher and catcher during a game last season...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
According to the club's statutes, three-quarter of its total members had to be present at Monday's meeting and then a majority of at least two-thirds was needed to make the decision to seal the fate for the club.
However, as there was no three-quarter present, after a brief interruption, a follow-up meeting then was arranged in which the decision was more or less taken.
But to make it official, a new club-meeting has to be set-up within four weeks.
When that meeting takes place in early March, it is not necessary to have the three-quarter of its members attending and a majority of votes of attending members then can result in the abolishment of the club.
And so, the club has less than four weeks to make things turn around in its favor.
However, several sources from within the club say that this will not happen.
That means that early March, ADO Lakers officially will be terminated.
That will then mark the end of a wellknown baseball- and softball-club in the Netherlands.
And it comes less than 2 1/2 years after another legendary club stopped when Sparta-Feyenoord was abolished in October 2012.
ADO is one of the 'old clubs' that played for a long period in the Dutch big league.
From that group Haarlem Nicols, Giants Diemen and Amstel Tijgers also vanished.
The latter team more or less still exist.
Giants Diemen separated into two new clubs after the 1987 season.
The big league-squad moved to Almere to become Almere Giants '24, while the majority of the club remained in Diemen to become Survivors.
A year after its transfer, Almere Giants withdrawn, then continued as New Giants, but then discontinued later during the 1988 season.
Survivors later merged with HCTIW to become TIW-Survivors, which is still an activive club.
Amstel Tijgers merged after the 1988 season with HCAW, which relegated from the big league that season.
After the merger, the club remained in the big league and played under the name of HCAW-Tijgers.
After four years, the addition 'Tijgers' was dropped and the club was called HCAW again and plays under that name since then.
Sparta had merged in 1997 with Feyenoord, which itself also had played in the Dutch big league in earlier years.
The senior clubs in the Dutch big league are now Kinheim and HCAW, which were later joined in the late seventies/early eighties by Neptunus, Amsterdam Pirates and Hoofddorp Pioniers joined the big league.
Since the early eighties, these clubs now form the core-five of the highest division.
ADO was founded in 1949.
After the 2011 season, it merged with Losdun Lakers, a small local club from The Hague.
Hereafter, the club continued under the name ADO Lakers.
...Jason Jakobus...
...the team's 2nd best hitter last year...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
After the club-meeting on Monday, it already rumored in the following days that two clubs have shown interest to take the vacant spot in the big league after ADO Lakers withdrawal.
One is Mampaey The Hawks, which last season ended in last place and then relegated after losing the best-of-five Promotion/Relegation Play-Off against DSS, the champion of the second highest league ('Overgangsklasse'), which therefore promoted.
The other club is Twins, which finished in second place in the 'Overgangsklasse', losing first place in the final game of the season.
ADO first played in the Dutch big league in 1971.
In the following period of seventeen years, the club relegated three times, but came back each time after only one year.
Since 1989, ADO played consecutively in the highest division and celebrated the Dutch championship in 1992.
One of the players who remained with the club in good times and bad times was pitcher Bart Volkerijk.
After concluding his career, the national team-pitcher went on to coach with the team, either as Pitching Coach or Head Coach for some additional seasons.
Volkerijk, who is the all-time StrikeOut-recordholder, also has been a member of the club's board in the past.
Other wellknown players of ADO include pitchers Ferry Neuteboom and Patrick Klerx, outfielders Berry Eijgendaal and Erik Volkerijk, first baseman René Nieveld, infielder Lou Halkema and catcher Frank van Rest, amongst other.
Another longtime club-icon was Leen Volkerijk (Bart's father), who coached the team for several years when it played in lower divisions.
In 1970, he led the team to the championship in First Division to promote to the big league and guided the team in its first seasons in the highest league.
Volkerijk Sr. later went on to become the Pitching Coach of the Netherlands National Baseball Team.
The home site of ADO is named after him, the Leen Volkerijk Baseball Stadium.
ADO's women softball-team also played briefly in the Dutch big league.
In the last few years, ADO encountered financial problems and played in the cellar of the big league.
In 2011 and 2013, ADO was able to remain in the highest division by winning the best-of-five Promotion/Relegation Play-Off against Euro Stars and Twins respectively.
Before the start of last season, it also looked as if the team would withdraw, but then the club-members meeting decided to continue playing.
This time, however, it appears that things cannot turn around again in favor of the club.
Unfortunately.
(February 3-5)
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